Hatters set for holiday wrestling showdown

Published 1:00 am, Friday, December 26, 2008

DANBURY -- For 18 of the last 19 years, Danbury High has hosted and won the Ryan Sabbagh Holiday Wrestling Tournament in the week after Christmas.

Will this year be any different? Not according to the Hatters.

"Absolutely, we go to win our own tournament," said Danbury coach
Rick Shook
. "This is the hardest tournament we will see this year. It would be very hard to take a loss at our own tournament."

As expected, Danbury has started the year with a perfect 2-0 record with victories over Fairfield Ludlowe and Stamford. The Hatters, using seven new wrestlers in their lineup, appear to have not lost a step in their campaign for a 23rd consecutive FCIAC title. However, due to a couple of snowstorms, Danbury has only wrestled twice this year before the annual tournament compared to five or six matches in previous years. Meanwhile, other teams have already logged significant time on the mats.

Included in the early-season postponements was the Hatters' annual showdown with Mount Anthony in Bennington, Vt.

"We are not at the right weights, it is early and we are young," added Shook. "This tournament has a lot of top-10 teams. It is going to be very competitive and very interesting. We are not happy with the weather, as we lost the Mount Anthony match. It is still real early and some teams have more matches."

Danbury, still ranked first in the state coaches poll, expects at least four top-ten teams for the tournament. Second-ranked
Bacon Academy
, third-ranked Ledyard, seventh-ranked Platt High and 10th-ranked Southington are all expected to be in attendance. They will be joined locally by New Milford, Brookfield, New Fairfield and Trinity-Pawling of Pawling, N.Y.

The tournament is scheduled to start at Danbury High at 10 a.m. and early rounds will run over two gymnasiums. The finals are scheduled to start in the main gymnasium at 7 p.m. and seats are hard to come by for those who show up late.

"It is a wonderful tradition. This is something that our kids look forward to," said Danbury Athletic Director
Chip Salvestrini
. "It helps get kids ready for FCIAC competition. The kids get a good number of matches in over a short period of time."

Danbury wrestlers understand what the tournament means to the team and the program.

"We have been hosting this tournament for over 20 years and we have won almost year except the first," said co-captain
Tucker Schaefer
. "It is one of the hardest tournaments in the state and means a lot to the kids on the team. We have to live up to the expectations and we have to fill the shoes of the people that have left. Then we set the mark for those that come after we graduate."

Schaefer is one of five Danbury wrestlers that have a shot at repeating their Holiday Tournament titles. Schaefer won last year at 145 pounds and is joined by heavyweight
Humphrey Swift
,
J.D. Damici
at 112,
Dylan Hancock
at 189 and
James Patton
at 95.